Judge John O’Donnell points to mannequins marked with the gunshot wounds suffered by two motorists. Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo, who fired 49 of 137 shots in the case, was acquitted.
Photograph: Tony Dejak/AP

Cleveland officer not guilty over deaths of two people shot at 137 times by police

Brelo fired 49 bullets into the car where Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were sitting, unarmed, in November 2012.

US representative Marcia Fudge, whose district includes part of Cleveland, said that the decision is a “stunning setback on the road to justice” for the victims and people of the city.

“The verdict is another chilling reminder of a broken relationship between the Cleveland police department and the community it serves,” Fudge said in a statement. “Today we have been told – yet again – our lives have no value.”

Under federal law, prosecutors had to prove that Brelo was not fearful that he, his fellow officers or any bystanders could be hurt. Prosecutors also had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brelo’s bullets killed the victims. Cuyahoga County judge John P O’Donnell said that this was not proven, while acknowledging that the officer’s act was “maybe not appropriate for the circumstances, but not illegal”.

“I never expect a police officer to be convicted. Never,” said Christine Link, the ACLU Ohio executive director.

Link said that the preponderance of case law falls in favor of officers because of implicit racism within the judicial system. “It’s not that any one judge is a racist, I’m not at all saying that, it is that over generations of legal decisions, we have decided in this country, that we will favor law enforcement,” she said.

But the latest acquittal comes as US police officers are under increased scrutiny for their use of force, particularly against people of color. In Cleveland people are still waiting for the results of an investigation into the police killing of unarmed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was carrying a toy gun. The ACLU’s Link expects the court not to charge the officer in that case, either.

Twelve other officers also opened fire on Russell and Williams vehicle, in an incident that was part of a December 2014 Justice Department report charging the police department with engaging in “excessive and unreasonable force”. Brelo is the only officer involved to have faced charges in connection with the incident.

The Justice Department’s civil rights division, FBI and US attorney’s office said they will review the testimony and evidence presented at the trial to determine if additional steps need to be taken with this case.

“To charge an officer in a fatal shooting, it takes something so egregious, so over the top that it cannot be explained in any rational way,” Stinson told the Washington Post. “It also has to be a case that prosecutors are willing to hang their reputation on.”